11. Cold Fusion

Rating

Votes

10

20%

7

9

51%

18

8

23%

8

7

3%

1

6

0%

0

5

0%

0

4

3%

1

3

0%

0

2

0%

0

1

0%

0

Average Rating

8.8

Votes

35

Synopsis

A newly regenerated Fifth Doctor arrives on an occupied ice planet - where the Seventh Doctor is investigating dangerous energy experiments conducted by the Earth Empire. But events spin out of control when a refugee from the distant past arrives - Patience, the Doctor's Wife!

Utterly loved this story. Out of all the Big Finish productions I have heard, this one is my favorite so far. It's not the average multi-doctor story, with 5 and 7 only sharing a few scenes near the end together; this is because it is essentially a 5th Doctor story, with 7 manipulating events in the background, in which he involves his two companions Chris and Roz, who primarily interact with 5's companions, Adric, Tegan and Nyssa. Neither 5 or 7 are particular favorite incarnations of mine but in the scenes they share together, I love them; from their quirky remarks about each others voices, the continuity references about previous encounters and other multi-doctor stories to the manipulation of the scene by 7.
All the elements about the character of Patience is very intriguing; I haven't read many New Adventures of Missing Adventures, and therefore I'm not an expert on what grounds they covered regarding the Doctor's background and origin, although have read a little about them in online discussions and Wikis, mainly regarding Lungbarrow and the Looms. I would have loved to see Big Finish adapt those stories, enabling them to be more accessible to a wider audience, to those who cannot buy the novels due to excessive prices or rarity. Such a pity that the novel adaptions range didn't sell well to warrant any further releases, as this release alongside "Original Sin" were marketed as the final novel adaptions, as they ended on a mega high with this story, but also it is a wasted opportunity to not tell those fascinating stories about our favorite time-travelling hero.
Highly recommended to all, hopefully everyone can buy these audios and cause an boost in sales and Big Finish will see the demand and interest in these stories :P

I have never read the novel, but had no trouble following this long and complex adventure.

It is very much a Fifth Doctor story with Seven in the background, but his manipulations make it as much about him.

The fun in the story comes from the different companions crossing paths with only the listener knowing what they have in common.

The quality of the story is shown not just in the complexity of the plot but also the subtle cleverness and accuracy in the writing of the characters. While Tegan and Bruce are a lot of fun with how outrageous they get, the scenes with Nyssa and Bruce are very well written and portray Nyssa as a young naïve traveller just as she was at the time. There is just a hint of regret in Seven's voice when he meets Adric, but that tells a lot. Moments like this echo across the story along with revelations about Gallifrey's past.

I will need to listen again to appreciate it all, but they will not be a chore.

This adaptation of the novel adds up to a six part Doctor Who story, but with two doctors and five different companions running around and a massive epic plot involving a battle of survival between two universes, the story is definitely not padded.

The story has a great sense mystery. Wisely, the play focuses on the Fifth Doctor who has arrived after the Seventh Doctor and is trying to figure out what's going on, including what role his future self was playing in all this. (Although, he doesn't know it's his future self at the time.) Peter Davison is wonderful in this, managing to combine earnestness with a righteous fury at injustice that I really wish we'd seen more of on television. Sylvester McCoy is good as the man in the Shadow who really only begins to move slowly on to the stage in the second half and doesn't meet his past self until the last story.

Tegan has a very solid story and gets to show her anger at Chris for his "racist" attempt to impersonate an Australian with her last name. Roz and Adric also play off each other beautifully.

The plot is epic and we really only learn the full scope of what's going on in the final episode. My only big regret is that they didn't explore some aspects of the plot more fully. Still, this is a very impressive production and this has become the novel adaptation I'd recommend most.